Jeff Tarte at a Newsmakers Breakfast

Aug. 17. Former Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte says he will not be endorsing any candidates municipal or county roles, including mayor of Cornelius. He will, however, host “meet and greets” with both candidates for mayor.

Incumbent Woody Washam faces an opponent—Commissioner Denis Bilodeau—for the first time in four campaigns for mayor, having run unopposed three times before.

Denis Bilodeau

Woody Washam

Tarte, who is chair-elect of the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce, said he will not endorse candidates as chair next year or immediate past chair in two years.

Not nincompoops

Tarte, a Republican and former NC District 41 senator, said both Bilodeau and Washam are “good people…this is so much better than having two nincompoops running.”

Etymology

Wiktionary says the etomology of nin-com-poop is uncertain. The first element nincom- is possibly from the name Nicholas or Nicodemus (compare French nicodème (“foolish or gullible person”), from the Pharisee named Nicodemus mentioned in the Bible who asks Jesus seemingly naive questions: see John 3:1–21), or from ninny (“foolish or silly person”), while the second element -poop could be derived from poop (“(obsolete) to cheat, deceive, fool”).^[1] The English lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) suggested that the first element might be from Latin non compos (mentis) (“not of sound mind”), but the Oxford English Dictionary notes that this does not correspond with early forms of the word from the 16th century such as nickumpoop and nicompoop.